When a door closes a window opens
by cmdrabenstadt
Summary: Hey guyyyyyyyyyys I put a bunch of cool stuff in my bio so you should go check it out:) there's characters, dresses, hair and makeup, all that lovely girly stuff! So enjoy! Love always, cam;)
1. Chapter 1

Prologue

Heather's POV

I had had a bad day, you couldn't blame for wanting to go have a good time. Although most kids our age don't pass the time doing what we do, I'm not one to follow the rules. I just never thought we'd end up like this.

Chapter 1

Heather's POV

As soon as school let out I bolted to the drug store. Acting oblivious to all the judging stares, I grabbed the cheapest pregnancy test, paid, and ran home so I could beat Casey. He was probably going to the mall with his friends and that disgusting girlfriend of his Sammy. But no. I had no time to worry about that right now. What was I even thinking anyways? I was only a freshman in high school! I hadn't even reached my 17th birthday yet and I was pregnant!

I already knew what my mom would say. She would call MTV and try to get me on 16 and Pregnant as soon as she could. All she ever wanted out of life was fame and attention. My dad would be absentee, just like he's been for the past four years. I don't know about Casey. I had always wished that we could have been closer. He was the perfect older brother, we had just taken different paths of life. Now I wish I was on his path. But it was too late now.

I took the test, and with my luck, it came back positive. Who to tell first. I guess the father, which would be Danny. I opened the door and walked out of the bathroom, still holding the test. I was staring down at it, when I turned the corner and ran straight into Casey. Crap.

"Watch where you're going Heather," he said with his usual scoffing that he only uses on me.

I tried to hide the test behind my back, but it was too late. He had already seen.

"What was that, Heather?"

I tried to make a run for the door, but he was too quick. He caught my arm and whipped me around.

"A pregnancy test?! Heather what did you do! You screwed your whole life up! People aren't going to accept a pregnant sixteen year old! You're going to get a whole lot of shaming at school!"

I couldn't help it. I started to sob. "Casey, can't you see that this is already hard enough on me? I don't need your lecture too! Please, I need someone that'll help me. I'm begging you. Don't leave me too. You're the only family I have left!"

"Heather, all you've ever tried to is bring me down. I'm not going to tell anyone, but I sure as hell am not going to help you with your mistake. Go run to Danny and cry to him, or whoever the father is," he stalked off to his room and slammed the door. That only made me cry harder.

I ran out the front door and as fast as I could to Danny's house. When I got there I was panting, and Danny was always home alone after school so I knew he would answer the door. I knocked.

"Oh hey Heather, what's up?" he said when he saw it was me.

"We need to talk," was all I said.

He let me inside and my first instinct was to go up to his bedroom, but I told myself that's how we got to this point. Don't do something else stupid.

I took one look at him and burst out crying again.

"Heather. Heather! It's gonna be okay! Just tell me what happened!" he tried to calm me down, but it wasn't working.

"Danny, i'm pregnant!"

I said it. I just plain and simply said it.

"W-what? You're kidding right? I can't deal with that!"

Before he could continue, I decided to just get up and leave. He tried to grab me but pulled away hard. I had a fire burning inside me, he should have known that already.

I ran fast away from his house. Not knowing where to go, I just decided to go to the wooded walkway by the mall. I sat down on a bench and simply bawled my eyes out. Danny would leave me for sure.

"Heather? Are you alright?" I didn't even bother to look up and see the only person that showed up to my pity party.

Whoever it was came and sat down next to me. She started to say something but I was too busy crying to care.

When I finally decided to look up, I gasped. Of all people, Sammy had come to comfort me. She looked scared, like I might punch her, so I collected myself enough to tell her I wasn't going to hurt her.

"Are you sure you're okay? You were really upset," I felt terrible. For everything I had done to her. In my darkest hour, not even my brother had been there for me. But she was. And for some reason, I trusted her. It was like all of these years we just misunderstood each other. We were too alike, and that, for some reason, had pulled us apart.

"I'm pregnant," I grumbled into my hands.

"I know. Casey told me. He told me what he said to you, and I told him that he was a real jerk for saying that to his sister. It's gonna be okay, we'll help you."

All this time that I had been crying, my phone had been buzzing off the hook. I looked at the screen. It was all from Danny.

"Danny's the father right?" she asked innocently. Like she trusted that i've only had sex with Danny. I wish.

"Yeah he is, I know he's gonna leave me though."

"I think you're underestimating Danny. I should probably get home now, call me if you need me, kay? And Heather, take care of yourself. Don't beat up yourself too much," she hopped on her skateboard and rode away.

On the way back home I called Danny. He answered on the first ring and hurriedly explained himself and apologized. I told him it was okay, but I was still worried. How long until people would know? How long until I had no one left to talk to?


	2. Chapter 2

Six months. Oh god, six long months. I cry every day, and every day I stare at that razor, but I hold myself back. That razor that I so badly want to slide smoothly over my wrist. To feel real, physical pain, that's what I want most. Not this psychological torture that I face every day. I don't know how, but somehow I manage. Today was so bad though. Sammy could tell, so she came home with me after school so we could hang out. She was worried, and I knew it. I was always off in a daze, trying to block out the horrible mess that I call my life. Danny's always got his eye on me. All the time. He knows what I think about, what I want to do. He also knows that i've got everything I need to do it.

When Sammy and I got to my house, I told her to make herself at home, that I was going to go to the bathroom. I walked slowly up the stairs, and snuck into my mom's room, and pulled the gun out of her night stand. I went over to the bathroom and closed the door. I grabbed a magazine and a pen, and scribbled down a note. How much I appreciated Sammy and Casey, how much I loved Danny and how I wished we could have grown old together, us and our baby. I wrote how much the people at school destroyed me, how they brought me to this point. And lastly, I wrote to my baby. I had done the research, and a baby could live if it was born after only six months. This baby would be born out of pain, it would be strong. I signed off the letter, cocked the gun, put it to my head, and pulled the trigger.

Watching the first few minutes after you die is strange. I watched Sammy bolt up the stairs. I watched her open the bathroom door, see all the blood, my dead body laying there. I watched her pull out her cellphone and call 911, and tell them that I was six months pregnant. I watched her cry as she called Danny and told him what was happening. I watched the ambulances pull up in front of my house, and the paramedics wheel my body out on a stretcher. I watched my daughter being born, forcibly cut out from my stomach. She was blue and quiet, not crying at all. I watched them pump oxygen into her tiny, frail body, and I watched them wheel us both into the hospital. I watch Danny sobbing uncontrollably in the hospital lobby while Casey tried to keep him from falling apart. I watched Sammy talking to the doctor, him telling her that I was pronounced dead, but my baby girl lived.

Danny was so distraught, Casey shoved him in the car and drove him to his house, he couldn't handle any of it. Casey helped him into the house and stayed with him as he fell apart in front of his eyes. Danny stayed like that for two whole days. He stayed like that for two whole weeks. Sammy stayed by my baby's side all of that time. That was all she had left of me, that tiny 3 pound baby in the incubator in the ICU. That was all, all that was left of me.

Casey's POV:

I was trying my absolute hardest not to fall apart. Sammy needed me, Danny really needed me, and the poor little baby that was born from tragedy needed me. Surely Danny wouldn't be mentally or physically stable enough to take care of her any time soon, so who would? Sammy and I.

After about about a week of Danny laying on my couch sobbing, I decided he needed to pick himself and realize his priorities. Even if he didn't have Heather, he had his daughter, and that was as good as he could get. I woke up that Saturday, determined to make a difference in Danny's condition. I made my way down the stairs, and stood in front of Danny's motionless body laying on the couch. His hair was dirty, he hadn't taken shower in two weeks. He was wearing the same clothes since that day.

"Danny, you need to get up."

"Why should I? When Heather never gets to get up again," that brought on a whole new set of body-racking sobs.

"Don't you see it Danny? You have a daughter. You have a tiny fragile baby girl in the ICU, and she needs you. You're letting her down, Danny. Majorly. Heather would want you to be a man and take care of her, don't you want her to be proud of you guys? It's hard, on everyone. Sammy's hardly even left the hospital, she's so distraught, but you've been here pitying yourself. I know you too well Danny, you're better than this. Now pick yourself up and take a shower. I'll make you some breakfast, and then we're heading to the hospital. You're lucky Danny. She left you something, and that something is a perfect baby girl. So be grateful. Be there for her."

He trudged extremely slow up the stairs and into my bathroom. Between Heather and I, he was at our house all the time. It was practically his house too, so he knew where everything was. I made us some scrambled eggs, and I sat down and started eating. Ten minutes later he came back down the stairs, wearing some of his clothes he had left here a while ago. He didn't look bad, he just look tired. Not in a way like he hadn't slept, he just looked like he had nothing left to sustain him. Nothing to live for.

We ate in silence, and got into the car, also silent. We drove the long solemn drive to the hospital, almost completely silent.

"We planned Heather's funeral. It's going to be on wednesday. We've got this week off because of Spring Break," I said to him. I wanted to break the sad, invisibly thick silence between us.

All he did was nod his head. I plugged my Ipod into the car and started to play Danny's playlist, hoping to cheer me up. He hummed a little bit, and tapped his foot, so I thought that was a good sign. I pulled into the driveway of the hospital and parked. Danny took one look and started crying again. I just sat there for a while and let him get it all out. His poor, broken body racked with waves of sobs. After a while, I said, "Danny, we need to go in now. Pull yourself together. Do you want the first time you meet your daughter to be sad?"

He shook his head no.

"Well let's get going then," I unbuckled and got out of the car.

Now I have to tell you, it took all of my strength these past two weeks not to fall apart. Heather and I were just getting to a place where we got along, where we were friends as well as siblings. But she had ended it, and I hoped, god did I hope, that she was in a much happier place now.

We walked solemnly to the main lobby, checked in, and were led down a hallway to the ICU. As they opened the door to her room, I heard Danny take a sharp intake of breath just as the nurse opened the door. I looked inside and saw a plastic box, and inside was a tiny little baby. In the armchair next to her was Sammy, fast asleep. I leaned over and kissed her on the forehead, and covered her with a blanket I brought with me. Danny stayed back, and just stared off into space. I gave him a little shove towards the crib, so he shuffled over. He took one look inside that clear box, and I swear he was a new person.


	3. Chapter 3

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I looked inside that big clear box, and I see the tiniest, most fragile little body that ever lived. She had her legs curled up underneath her, and she had a tiny bit of strawberry blonde hair. She was wearing a light green onesie that Sammy probably put on her. God, I owed that girl a lot.

I sat down in a chair and just gazed at her. She was mine. My baby, my daughter. The nurse came back in to do a check up, and she asked me if I wanted to hold her. I stood there dumbfounded, but Casey had my back again.

"Yeah, he would," he said to the nurse. He kicked my ankle.

"Go ahead and sit in that chair, and i'll hand her to you," the nurse pointed.

I sat down, extremely nervous. There is no way I could ever live up to what she needed, let alone deserved. There was no way i'd ever be a good father.

"Curve your arm like this so you can support her head, and put your other hand on her back," she directed me. I did exactly as she said, and she must have been satisfied, because she left the room writing on her clipboard.

At first I couldn't bring myself to look at her, the baby that weighed practically nothing. My muscles from being on the football team were the cause of that. But Casey was looking at me, watching my facial expressions. I would have to sometime, so I might as well. I slowly turned my head, definitely not prepared for what I saw. It struck me so hard, like a slap in the face. This was my kid, my daughter. The words tasted good, but strange in my mouth. Bittersweet, I guess you could call it. She was mine. Mine to take care of, to make memories with, to raise to be a beautiful young lady.

She had a thick head of red hair, and her eyes were open the tiniest bit, to reveal the bluest eyes i've ever seen. She was beautiful. Absolutely beautiful. And I know that's cliche, because everybody thinks their kid is the most beautiful, but it was true. And people would prove me right for years to come.

I just kind of took in the sight of her. The room was silent except for her breathing machine, but eventually Sammy woke up and things got more lively. She always brightened up the mood. We talked for a bit, and I knew the question was coming, but I was going to avoid it as long as I could.

"So, did Heather ever mention any names she liked?" I cringed at the sound of her name. The wound was still fresh.

"She always loved the french language, so maybe a french name would be nice?" I replied half heartedly.

"Yeah, maybe like Brie? Or something with Rose in it?" Sammy suggested.

"Yeah. Brie's nice. How about Brie Rose?" I tried to say it in my mind. Test how it tasted.

"What about Brie Rosalyn Urbanski? That's a beautiful name," Sammy saved me once again.

"Brie. Brie Urbanski. Yeah, I think that's it," I nodded my head in approval, "It's just you and me, Brie. You and me."

I went to the hospital everyday after that, including after the funeral. I cried so much, I needed to see something that mattered, someone that needed me. So that's where I went. I was responsible for such a tiny, fragile thing, but I was glad. She was growing fast though, almost to 4 pounds then.

She was an observer, never crying frivolously. She kicked her arms and legs around, but never made a sound. She was feisty, yet quiet at the same time. Everything I loved about Heather, I saw in Brie.

Those two long months she had to stay in the hospital were hard. I couldn't stay with her there all the time, I had already missed enough school those two weeks after Heather… you know. And when I wasn't at the hospital, I was home alone at my house. My parents had moved to Chicago for business, and to get my little sister away from me and my bad influences, but they had left our huge house for me to stay in. I didn't like it though. I just felt lonely and empty. So a lot of the time I went over to Sammy or Casey's house. I owed them so much, they got me through probably the worst experience i'll ever have in my life. They made good things come out of death. Something I had previously believed was impossible.

One day though, I went to the hospital after school like I usually do, and I went to the regular nursery because Brie didn't need the breathing machine anymore. When I walked in Brie was holding her feet up with her hands and rolling on her side. The only word to describe it was adorable.

"Hey baby girl," I said as I picked her up. She was wearing just a white onesie that made her bright red hair stand out. Her big blue eyes were staring straight into mine and she smiled a wide toothless smile.

I was just starting to change her diaper when the nurse came in for a routine check up.

"It looks like she's ready to go home today," she told me when she was done, "All her vitals look good and she's been perfect off of the oxygen and IV for a week now so you're good to go!"

I have to admit, I panicked a little. A lot. I hadn't even thought about what kind of stuff I would have to buy or what room she would stay in, let alone what I was going to do with her when I was in school. Now that's what you would call a real problem. I couldn't bring her to school and she was too young for daycare! God, if I had to ask Sammy and Casey for another favor I would feel terrible. But I needed help, I needed a motherly opinion on this, so I decided to give Sammy a call.

"Hello? Danny?" she answered.

"Yeah Sammy it's me. I'm in some deep sh- I mean crap. I have to take her home tomorrow."

"That's fantastic!"

"Yeah but you don't understand. I have nothing prepared. I have no baby food, no baby clothes, no crib or high chair. I have nothing. I don't even know what i'm going to do with her during school!"

"It's okay, meet me at Target, we'll figure it out, kay? You have the car seat and stuff right?"

"No!"

"Jesus christ Danny. You're lucky I have it. I'll pick you guys up in a minute. Make sure you're waiting outside."

"Thank you so much. Bye."

"Bye."

We hung up and I started to pack up all of Brie's stuff. Meaning I threw it in my backpack. I wrapped her up in her blanket just like the nurses had taught me, and put her in the carrier. I went to the front desk to check out, and it went fine, but pretty much everybody was giving me strange looks. Or looks like they were going to hit on me if I talked to them. I'm not sure which was worse.

We waited outside on a bench until Sammy got there. It was spring still, so it got chilly at night. I didn't want Brie to get cold, so I picked her up and held her close to me. She was sleeping soundly, her tiny chest rising and falling with each breath. I was really glad that Heather had left her. If I didn't have Brie, I would have nothing left.

I was distracted trying to look up the best cribs to buy so I didn't see Sammy pull up. I looked up at her and was about to put Brie back in the carrier but she stopped me.

"Smile."

She held up her phone to take a picture, so I smiled tiredly.

"Perfect," she smiled back, "And that is going on Instagram."

Normally I would have objected, but at this point, a bad picture of me on Instagram was the least of my worries. I expertedly hooked the carrier into the seat base and sat down beside it. Sammy hopped into the driver's seat, and we were off.

We pulled into the Target parking lot and headed into the store, straight to the baby aisle. We had no time to lose.

"So you literally have nothing?" Sammy asked me.

"Literally. She could use my sister's old room. The walls are gray. I guess it could work."

"Yeah gray and pink would be cute. How about the elephants?"

"Whatever you think."

And that's pretty much how the rest of the time went. Sammy would suggest something, and I would not know the first thing about it, so she made the decisions. We got everything I would need for at least three weeks. I was so grateful. On the car ride back though, I remembered the whole nobody-to-watch-the-baby-while-i'm-at-school situation.

"I guess i'm just going to have to miss more school," I said kind of vaguely.

"Wha- Oh yeah! Grams and Hudson said they'd be happy to watch her during the day if you want."

"Oh my god yes Sammy you're a life saver!"

"Don't I know it," she said it sarcastically, but she was smiling so I knew she was kidding.

We got back and helped me unload all of the stuff. We put together all the furniture and replaced my sister's stuff with it. Sammy folded and organized all the clothes and diapers. When everything was done, she left to go home and do homework.

I was just sitting on the couch holding Brie and watching TV when I got a text from Taylor.

"Dude u up for some COD?"

That was my favorite game and I had nothing else to do, so why not?

"Yeah sure u add me 1."

I turned on the Live so that we could hear each other talk, but I wanted to make sure not to wake Brie, so I turned it wayyyyyyyy down. We played the game for a while until his team beat mine. I couldn't help it, my arms were hindered by a sleeping baby! But it was all over when Taylor screamed at the sight of his team's victory. Even with the volume turned down, his screaming hurt my ears. Not to mention it sent Brie into a fit of crying that took me two hours to console.

"Dude look what you did!"

"You've got the kid there?! And jesus, it's not my fault you got a girl pregnant…"

"What did you think I was going to do with her, put her up for adoption?!"

"Well now that you say that….."

"Taylor I don't think you understand that I have nothing left! My family left! Heather is dead! The only good thing left in my life besides Sammy and Casey is Brie! Do you get that? I don't need the worthless piece of crap friends that you and Jake are, got it?!"

Through all the time we were arguing, Brie gradually wailed louder and louder until I thought her lungs had for sure dried up and died.

"Jesus shut that kid up Danny!" Taylor yelled over her.

"It's a girl and her name is Brie so why don't you call her that! Taylor I really don't need this right now I'll talk to you later when I don't have a crying baby and homework," and then I hung up.

I honest to god tried everything to calm her down. I held her on my shoulder and bounced her, I held her normal, I read her chapter 15 in my history textbook (my homework), and lastly, I plain and simply laid down on the couch with her on top of me. Eventually her wailing turned to a whimper, and then she was asleep. I was afraid that if I moved that would start a whole nother fit of crying, so I just laid there. After maybe an hour of lying on the couch playing angry birds, the doorbell rang. I was lucky enough that that didn't wake her up, but I did not want to take a chance trying to get up and answer it. So I kinda yelled whispered for whoever it was to come in.

"Taylor? What are you doing here?"

"Well, I um, I came to say sorry. I just felt really bad that I made a baby cry like that and I wanted to make sure she was okay."

"Yeah, I think she's okay now. Took me about an hour though to calm her down."'

"I'm sorry, I was being really stupid and insensitive and it was dumb to get that worked up over a video game."

"You're fine man. Don't beat yourself up over it. You can go ahead and sit down if you want."

He sat down in the chair next to me.

"It must be really hard, these last few months," he said after a couple minutes of uncomfortable silence.

"I mean, i've definitely had way better months, but they could have been a lot worse."

"At least she left you something."

"Very true. Very, very true."

"Does she look like Heather?"

"She's definitely got the fiery hair going on, but it's hard to tell otherwise. You want to hold her?"

"Uh, um, yeah. That would be nice," he stuttered out nervously.

I carefully picked her up and handed her to him. He was sitting rigid, like he was afraid to move or else she would break.

"Relax, you're fine."

We kinda just sat there for a minute, but then I saw a smile creep slowly across his face. That delicate moment stopped shortly after though when I realized that it was 11:00 and I still had at least two hours worth of homework left. Christ, I was not going to get any sleep tonight.

"You should probably get going. I've got a lot of homework left and I need to get sleep, so i'll see you tomorrow at lunch? If i'm not dead tired or flooded with school work…"

"Yeah. Yeah, i'll um, i'll save your spot for you," he handed Brie back to me.

"Thanks. Can you let yourself out?"

"Yeah. I'll see ya Danny. Oh yeah! Tomorrow is Senior breakfast. We get free Chick-Fil-A!"

"If I can make it on time…"

And then he left.

The whole time I worked on my homework, Brie slept quietly in my arms. But I swear, the second I was done, and about to try and get some sleep, she started wailing again. When it first started, I fed her a bottle and she seemed fine after that. For five minutes. It was all downhill from there though. She wailed. And wailed. And then wailed for another 3 hours. I cannot tell you how many times I checked her diaper, paced around the room, tried to give her her binkie. She refused all of it. When it was 5:00 AM, I just plain gave up, and the only time she stopped crying was at 6:30 when I had to get ready for school. Figures.

I looked absolutely awful. My hair was messy, my clothes were wrinkled, and I had the biggest dark circles under my eyes. They were bloodshot and I could barely keep them open. I grabbed a cup of coffee, packed up Brie, and hopped in the car. I drove over to Sammy's house so that her Grams could watch her. Life savers, that's what they all were. But again, the whole car ride, Brie cried, and cried, and then cried some more. I was relieved when we made it there. I pulled her out of the carrier in a futile effort to make her stop. Ha. Funny.

Now, I can imagine I looked a mess, with my bawling baby, all my stuff, and my, let's say special, appearance. I rang the doorbell with my elbow, and thank god she opened the door right away.

"Rough night?" Sammy asked me, grabbing my stuff and letting me inside.

"You could say that," I sounded exasperated.

The crying. Still.

"Let me see her," she reached for Brie. I quickly handed her over.

I swear to god, that baby stopped crying the second she was in Sammy's arms. It was like a switch flipped.

"Yeah i'm just going to lay down on your couch before I crash, that okay?" I asked her through my yawns.

She looked at her watch, "You've got ten minutes, make the most out of it."

I was out like a light.

**yay New chapter! Hey so guys Anne and I are making a really cool writers website where you are going to be able to post all kinds of stuff, not just fanfiction. When we have everything figured out I'll give you guys the link:) as always read and review! Love always, cam;) **


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